


Some shadowhunters, a werewolf, a vampire, a child, and a warlock walk into an elevator

by DestielsDestiny



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Child Abuse, Dysfunctional Family, Elevators, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Alec Lightwood, Protective Magnus Bane, Trapped In Elevator, hurt jace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 11:57:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9180502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestielsDestiny/pseuds/DestielsDestiny
Summary: The Institute had elevators. Clary had not known that.





	

The Institute has elevators. Clary had not known that. Six months of living there, and she hadn’t known that there were elevators in the building. 

She’s not sure why it came as a surprise that there were. This wasn’t Hogwarts, as Simon never failed to point out, Nephilim didn’t have an odd attachment to hopelessly antiquated non-technology. 

Clary lets her head fall back against the elevator wall in frustration, and privately wishes the Shadow world was a bit more like Hogwarts. And not just because they could really use a Severus Snape to billow in and fix everything right about now. 

But because if the Nephilim were technophobes, she wouldn’t have had to find out that the Institute did in fact have bizarrely large, supposedly ultra-modern elevators. 

She wouldn’t currently be stuck in a broken, unbreakable elevator with all of Jace’s adopted siblings, Luke, Simon, a mother who she thought she knew right up until she tried to commit a fucked up version of whatever you called firing a crossbow and your own son twice, Magnus, Lydia, and Victor Aldertree of all people. 

Seriously, it was a humungous elevator. 

Jocelyn shifted from her spot beside Luke, and looked ready to try to speak to Clary again. 

Her mother’s explanation had gotten lost somewhere between trying to explain why demon blood was bad when a shadowhunter toddler had it, but not when a warlock had it, and Clary has studiously avoided allowing it to restart since. She has no intention of breaking that trend just on account of this stupid elevator. 

So she starts talking first. 

She talks about a cute boy in leather, exclaiming “you can see me!” before whirling around to stab somehow in the heart. She talks about a breathless motorcycle ride, blond hair whipping against red in the wind, laughter bubbling up. She talks about the anguished eyes of a brother, fighting to save his family until the moment he can fight no more. 

She talks until her voice grows hoarse, until the others have shifted around enough that it’s obvious everyone is listening, even Victor Aldertree. Even her mother. 

So she talks until her voice breaks, about a little boy who tamed a wild falcon to his fist, who was told to break it, and instead taught it to love him. 

She trails off when the tears finally come, only for Alec to start right back up. He talks about a slightly larger boy, all huge eyes and dark bruises, timidly saying “hi, I’m Jonathan.” He talks about Max, too small to really remember not having two brother, unable to pronounce Jonathan and coming up with Jace. He talks about learning to fight as he if had four arms instead of two. 

He talks about waking up to Jace’s nightmares, every night, and how much he wished he knew who to kill. 

Izzy picks it up then, talks about a teenager who let her pain his nails fuscia just to make her smile, about her brother, who defied the clave to save someone she cared about, just because she asked him to. 

Luke talks about the ache of seeing a boy who was his parabatai but wasn’t, the echo of a past that never really was. He talks about the hesitancy he saw in a dual coloured eye, everytime he thought no one was looking. 

Lydia talks about kind words after a wedding, a shy smile and honest declaration, no pretensions, no agenda, no hidden motives. 

Simon talks about how much not like highschool this all turned out to be. He talks about someone who made Clary laugh. 

Magnus leans into Alec slightly and talks about a flinch from a hand on his chin, a jump in front of a dangerous portal, a hand slapping his shoulder, the son of Valentine Morgenstern touching a warlock as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He talks about a pair of anguished eyes, and the greatest act of sacrifice, of bravery, he’s seen in centuries. 

Jocelyn stares at the floor until Victor actually opens his mouth. 

Thankfully, the doors open before they get any further. 

00

Later, Jocelyn carries a box into Clary’s room. She caresses the lid with a shaking hand, and sits beside her daughter, careful not to touch. 

She looks at the Lightwoods plus warlock, arrayed around the room, at Simon, sitting on Clary’s other side. At Luke, standing at her back. Victor and Lydia lingering in the doorway. 

Quietly, she tells them about a toddler with black eyes, and breath like smoke. 

She talks until the tears come, until Clary’s arm hesitantly wraps around her shoulders. 

She talks until she stops, squeezes her eyes tightly closed for a moment, looks around the room at large, and finds the courage to say, “tell me about Jace.”


End file.
